USC Men Take Top Spot in Latest ITA Rankings, Duke Women Remain No. 1; Redlicki Suspended at Duke; Criteria for USTA Collegiate Team Announced

Another week, another new team at No. 1, with the Southern California Trojans claiming the top spot in this week's men's ITA rankings. As with the NCAA men's basketball season, there's lots of parity and no reason to think that will change in the next six weeks.

Southern Cal, No. 4 last week, moved past last week's No. 1 Oklahoma, who dropped to third, with Ohio State, another previous No. 1, who remained at No. 2. The men's Top 10:

1. Southern Cal
2. Ohio State
3. Oklahoma
4. Virginia
5. UCLA
6. Baylor
7. Georgia
8. North Carolina
9. Notre Dame
10. Illinois

The Duke women maintained their place at the top of the rankings, with UCLA continuing in the No. 2 spot.  Georgia, who lost to Vanderbilt on Sunday, fell from 3 to 9.  The women's Top 10:

1. Duke
2. UCLA
3. Virginia
4. Florida
5. Stanford
6. Alabama
7. Texas A&M
8. North Carolina
9. Georgia
10. Vanderbilt

The Texas College Tennis blog has released its new men's rankings, with Oklahoma at No. 1, Ohio State 2, UCLA 3 and Southern Cal 4.  The complete list is here.

The individual rankings had only one change, with Jamie Loeb of North Carolina, Clay Thompson of UCLA and Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady of UCLA staying at No. 1.  The Tennessee doubles team of Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese have returned to the top spot this week.

Women's Singles Top 10:

1. Jamie Loeb, North Carolina
2. Kristie Ahn, Stanford
3. Julia Elbaba, Virginia
4. Robin Anderson, UCLA
5. Beatrice Capra, Duke
6. Lauren Herring, Georgia
7. Hayley Carter, North Carolina
8. Jenny Jullien, St. Mary's
9. Emina Bektas, Michigan
10. Olivia Janowicz, Florida

Men's Singles Top 10:
1. Clay Thompson, UCLA
2. Axel Alvarez, Oklahoma
3. Raymond Sarmiento, Southern Cal
4. Mitchell Frank, Virginia
5. Guillermo Alcorta, Oklahoma
6. Marcos Giron, UCLA
7. Julian Lenz, Baylor
8. Peter Kobelt, Ohio State
9. Jared Hiltzik, Illinois
10. Brayden Schnur, North Carolina

The complete rankings, both team and individual, can be found at the ITA ranking page.

According to this report from the Duke Chronicle on Sunday's Virginia - Duke men's match, sophomore Michael Redlicki, No. 35 in this week's rankings, was not in the lineup because he had been suspended indefinitely for "disorderly conduct." I have been told there will be no other statement on the matter from the University.

Dustin Taylor, USTA National Coach for Collegiate Tennis

The criteria for inclusion on the USTA's Collegiate Team has been released. ITA rankings are no longer used for team selection, but they are used for the $3000 and $2000 grants. The full explanation is below:

Collegiate National Team

The Collegiate National Team consists of the nation's top American college players, who are eligible to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup/Fed Cup play, and is designed to provide them with valuable exposure to the USTA Pro Circuit in a team-oriented environment. The Collegiate National Team is for collegiate players aspiring to become top professionals.

Teams will be comprised of 6 players and 2-3 coaches who meet the criteria specified below.  Team members will be granted the opportunity to participate in: USTA Pro Circuit events, MasterU Competition, and will be in consideration for Davis Cup/Fed Cup competitions (practice partner), and will be provided with appropriate funding, coaching, training and competitive opportunities throughout the year, courtesy of USTA Player Development (USTAPD).

The program, which is administered by the USTAPD and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, began in 1996, initially funded by the USTA and now by the USTAPD, and is currently headed by USTA National Coach, Dustin Taylor.

Automatic Qualifiers:

·       Singles winners of the ITA All-American, National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, and NCAA’s will be automatically on the team

·       ITA Player and/or Rookie of the year

·       And for the remaining spots, the highest ranked Collegians in the ATP and WTA rankings, as of Monday, August 11, 2014, will round out the teams of 6

Grant Money Recipients:

At the conclusion of the NCAA Individual Tournament, the USTAPD will be distributing a $3000 grant to the top 5 Americans and a $2000 grant to Americans 6-10 in final ITA Division I Singles rankings

Priorities for USTA Player Development:

1.     The players who have already qualified for the team

2.     Grant money recipients who didn’t qualify during the course of the academic year

3.     The rest of college tennis!!  Collegiate National Team coaches at tournaments will stay to help out ANY collegian who is still in the tournament

Questions:

Feel free to contact USTA National Coach, Dustin Taylor with any questions or concerns at dtaylor@usta.com